Poodle with scab/tear stains

Question
QUESTION: My 10 yr old 8lb poodle always has tear stains. I just wash her face occasionally and don't worry much about them. I assumed it was part of the breed. I recently bought some tear stain removal from Pet Smart. One of the eyes had a big glob of what I thought was eye discharge. When I tried to wipe it off it seemed stuck. I finally got it to lift up and it was a scab. It was raw and gooey under it. I've been using a little peroxide and bactroban. I'm afraid of the med because it is close to the eye. It's about the size of my pinky nail. Can tearing cause this? She's never had anything like this before. I don't know whether to try and soak it off or leave it alone.I hate to go to the vet and him tell me "yep keep doing what your doing"

ANSWER: Hello Julia,
It is not as common as a dog getting tears, but scabs due to the dried eyeball goo happen if you don't clean the eyes every day.  I have a Std Poodle male that gets this frequently.  I pick the scab off, to get it away from his eye, then put a triple antibotic on the raw place with a Q-tip.  
There are many things that can cause the eyes to run, such as Allergies, irritations in the eye (such as when hairs get into the eye) and genetics can play a part with runny eyes as well.

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Kim! I have one more thing to clarify. Should I pick it off even though it is sorta big and thick? That's gonna be realll fun. I had wondered if the scab/tear stuff could be still irritating and maybe I should pick it off? UGH

Answer
Yes, I would go ahead and pick it off so that it can start to heal.  To make it come off easier, you might wet a cloth with warm water and hold it on the goo for a bit.  It will help soften it so it will come off better.  

You should also have your groomer shave under your dogs eyes, so that the goo can't stick as much under your dogs eyes.  You can also put vaseline under the eyes so that the tears won't stick.

Thanks again,
Kim